October Daye series
October Daye series is written by Seanan McGuire. Genres Urban Fantasy Series Premise All the fairy tales are true; we just got the details wrong. Faerie has existed in parallel to our world since the dawn of the human race, frequently hidden, always present. ~ The Toby Daye FAQ Series Description Faerie has always been with us. The fairy tales, ballads, and folklore of the mortal world are only shadows of the true, sometimes terrible reality of the fae. They survive in secrecy, keeping their Courts in the places where the light doesn't fall, existing in parallel to the world we know. They aren't human. They don't want to be. But sometimes they take human lovers, and sometimes, those unions are fertile ones. Changelings aren't stolen children; they're mortal halfbreeds born where the fae and human worlds collide, never able to fully belong to either, outsiders from birth. October Daye knows how cruel Faerie can be to its changeling children. Born in San Francisco and carried to the Summerlands by her pureblood mother when she was just a child, she was raised in a world that never seemed capable of understanding her. She ran away the moment the opportunity presented itself, only to find that the human world wasn't any better. Things have been going downhill ever since. The October Daye books follow the adventures of October "Toby" Daye as she tries to find her footing in a world that seems a little more interested in killing her than she'd like. ~ From: Seanan McGuire: October Daye Books Lead's Species * Changeling: Half Fae-Half Human Primary Supe * Faeries What Sets it Apart * Faeries in an Adult Urban fantasy Narrative Type and Narrators * Told from the first person perspective of Toby. Books in Series October Daye series: # Rosemary and Rue (2009) # A Local Habitation (2010) # An Artificial Night (2010) # Late Eclipses (2011) # One Salt Sea (2011) # Ashes of Honor (2012) # Chimes at Midnight (2013) # The Winter Long (2014) # A Red Rose Chain (2015) # Once Broken Faith (2016) # The Brightest Fell (9/2017) # Night and Silence (9/2018) # The Unkindest Tide (9/2019) ~ Planned final (subject to change) Shorts, Anthologies and Guides *0.1. "Rat-Catcher" in A Fantasy Medley 2 (2012) (Rand, set in late 1600s) ~ 2013 Hugo nom *0.2. "Forbid the Sea" (Sept 2013) ~ eShort (Free) (Tybalt), Best read after "Rat-Catcher," *4.5. "Through this House " in Home Improvement: Undead Edition (2011) (Toby, May, Danny, Quentin) — between Late Eclipses and One Salt Sea *5.1. "In Sea-Salt Tears" (2012) ~eShort, 24 pages (Luidaeg) 2013 Hugo nom — before Rosemary and Rue (Free) ~ [http://seananmcguire.com/tobyshorts.php Seanan McGuire ~'Toby Short Stories'] some are Free Other series by Author on Site * InCryptid series * Ghost Stories series Themes, Motifs, Symbolism * Loneliness, and being out of place * What does it mean to be a hero and at what cost World Building Setting * San Francisco, * Faerie (land) Places of the Mortal World: * Silicon Valley, CA * Fremont, CA Places of Faerie: * Shadowed Hills — fae kingdom in San Francisco (1) ruled by Sylvester Torquill * Tea Gardens #1, 4 — where Toby lived as a fish for 14 years; * Home (1) — halfway house for down and out Changeling children in SF: Fagin-like Devin's kingdom of the changeling runaways. A place for changelings who couldn't fit in with human society and the fae disdain them, Home was a place where changelings could be counted on to look out for each other to a degree. * County of Tamed Lightning: aka Fremont, CA; (2, 6) Sylvester sent Toby to check on his niece January, Countess of Tamed Lightning; buildings change and realign all the time in her kingdom; * Duchy of Dreamers Glass: #2 neighboring duchy to Tamed Lightning; would take it as a move against them if Sylvester sought after his niece himself; * Blind Michael's Realm: #3 home of the Wild Hunt—there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm-and no road may be taken more than once * Kingdom of the Mists — overlays Northern California * Muir Woods — * Goldengreen — Evening Winterroses Duchy at the time of her death, and is given Toby by the Queen of the Mist * Saltmist — Undersea Duchy of Saltmist (5) * Library of Stars (7) — Supernatural Elements ❈ General Supes: Faries, changelings, Sea Witch, shape-shifting cats, Merrow, sea creature, teleporting powers, dying curse, geas, Wild Hunt, goblin fruit (fae drug addictive to humans), blood magic, teleporters, giant spiders, grim reaper (fetch) #3, magical candle, elf shot, knight-errant, curse, sea creature, Undersea world, changeling, changeling choice, teleporting, Sea Hag, night-haunts, purebloods, Japanese fox-spirit, fetch, doppelgängers, , , , , ❈ Faerie Types: Daoine Sidhe, Dochas Sidhe, Cait Sidhe, Kitsune, Tuatha de Danann, Land Sidhe, Undersea Sidthe, Air Sidhe, ❈ Fae Beings & Creatures: pixies, elves, peris, gnomes, Cait Sidhe, Undines, selkies, selkie noble, Siren, Banshee, Sea Wight gruff, Barrow-Wight, Hobs, Bridge Troll, rose goblins, kitsune, Lady of the Tea Gardens, Queen of the Mists, Faerie royalty, Pureblood fae, Barghest, , Glossary * Blood Magic: able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood—Toby has the gift, inherited from her mother; * Blood Riders/Workers: those with the power of Blood Magic: ability to garner memories from people’s blood; Dochas Sidhe; * Faeries, Fae: are the immortal descendants of Oberon, Maeve, and Titania * Firstborn: every child of the Big Three—every Firstborn is potentially the parent of one or more races, depending on what they do. Some Firstborn will never have a descendant race; others may have two or more—Luidaeg & Blind Michael * Summerlands: Faerie is divided into multiple different lands, sometimes referred to as "countries." Right now, the only part of Faerie that the fae have access to is the Summerlands, the land located closest to the mortal world. The rest were sealed by Oberon when he disappeared, several hundred years ago. * Faerie Bride: someone who finds a human to marry, to live as a human when they are fully aware that the attachment has to rely on lies and can never last for more than a few years; * Cait Sidhe: humanoid-cat shapeshifter fairies that live half-feral in the streets of San Francisco * Kitsune: Japanese fox-spirit * Rose Goblins: cat-sized creatures made of petals and thorns #1, #2 * Night Haunts: the creatures that dispose of fae dead #2; only die by becoming Fetches * Babylon candle: magical candle, give to Toby by Luidaeg, for aid in Blind Michael's realm; * Fetch: Toby's own personal Grim Reaper #3 * Merrow: essentially Merfolk with storm powers * Goblin Fruit: naturally-occurring narcotic that has "sweet purple berries that smell like everything good in the world and give purebloods beautiful dreams."; Purebloods can eat the berries or jam made from the berries and enjoy the effects without the danger of addiction, but if a changeling eats just one berry, he or she becomes immediately and irreparably addicted"wasting away on a diet of nothing but sweet fruit and fantasies."; * Oberon's Laws: no killing of other Fae *'Library of Stars': in hidden depths of the Kingdom of the Mists * Wild Hunt: Lead by Blind Michael #3; comes about every 100 years—before it does it gathers new riders and steeds–fae children to ride, mortal children for horses on the nights before Samhain he steals them from their homes. * Oneiromancer: a system of dream interpretation that uses dreams to predict the future (Karen is one) * Elf Shot: puts purebloods to sleep for a hundred years if they're shot with it, usually fatal to anyone not a pureblood; queen's guards shoots Toby was elf shot #4; Nolan, Kingdom of Mist heir, was elf shot in 1930's, still asleep; * Blindly Fostered: Quentin was blindly fostered to Duke Sylvester Torquill * Bannick: bath-spirit—obsessed with cleanliness; Elliot is one; * Siren’s Song: #7 can make people do things they don’t want to do; to break a Siren’s song, you have to kill the Siren or have her remove it; * Dochas Sidhe: fae race of Blood-workers—Amandine is the mother of them; * Barghests: monstrous black dog with huge teeth and claws; Danny the Bridge Troll, cab driver has some that he treats them like pets under a bridge; Organizations * ALH Computing: computer software company owned by January O'Leary, Sylvester's niece, in County of Tamed Lightning, aka Fremont, CA (bk-#2), Toby was sent to check on January, finds murdered employees; World ✥ The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. In the case of October "Toby" Gaye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas. ~ Shelfari ✥ In this world, all of the old familiar fairy tales are basically true, but we got the details wrong. The land of Faerie has existed parallel to the mortal world since the dawn of time. Although it is frequently hidden, it is always present. Faerie is inhabited by many different types of creatures, including pixies, elves, gnomes, shape-shifting cats, sea witches, and plenty of Faerie royalty. Faerie society is ancient and complex, with many feuds, rivalries, and shifting alliances, all of which make Toby's life a constant challenge. Here, one character explains to Toby how the fae world is divided: "Humans inhabit just one level of the world: the land. They can travel through the air and sea, but being unable to fly or breathe water puts a damper on long-term habitation. The fae don't share their limitations. There are Kingdoms under the ocean and high in the clouds, thriving outside the range of mortal eyes...and most fae eyes, if we're being honest. Land fae rarely go to the trouble of visiting the Undersea, and the majority of the winged races are too weak to reach the Cloud Kingdoms. We may be everywhere, but that doesn't keep us from being divided by environment." (One Salt Sea, p. 22) ❈ Faerie society is ancient and complex, with many feuds, rivalries, and shifting alliances, all of which make Toby's life a constant challenge. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction About Faeries Every child of the Big Three is considered one of the Firstborn, and every Firstborn is potentially the parent of one or more races, depending on what they do. Some Firstborn will never have a descendant race; others may have two or more. The Big Three are: Oberon, Maeve (Medb), and Titania, also referred to as the King and Queens, or the Lord and Ladies. They are the rulers of all Faerie, and the top of the heap in all things: the highest political powers, and the highest on the potential power scale. Next to them, even the Firstborn are weak. Oberon, Maeve, and Titania are scary as hell. They've also been missing for roughly five hundred years, which explains a lot about the state of Faerie in Toby's time. Some fae can pass for human with very little effort; others resemble animate rose bushes, or live inside trees, or are made entirely of water. The diversity in Faerie is infinite, and it's entirely possible for two fae races to have nothing in common beyond immortality and originating in Faerie. There are fae everywhere in the world, and their hierarchy and local structure depends both on where they are and on how much contact they have with the mortals in that area. Later books will deal with the fae of Oregon (the Kingdom of Silences), Southern California (the Kingdom of Lost Angels), and Toronto, Canada (the High Seat of the Northlands), among others. For the Courts, succession is a matter of inheritance. If a regent dies without a direct descendant, the throne will generally go to a relation; if none can be found, a new regent is chosen by the area's High King or Queen. (This is not the case if an old monarchy is knocked down or a revolution happens, naturally.) Changelings are unable to inherit lands or titles from their fae parent. Cait Sidhe succession is purely a matter of kicking the crap out of the monarch you're looking to replace. It's rule by strength of arms. If a Cait Sidhe changeling won the succession fight, they would be allowed to hold the throne until it was taken away. ~ Source: Toby's World: The Toby Daye FAQ ~ Seanan McGuire ✥ These fae can be self-centered, dangerous and so wholly inhuman that it takes a few steps back to see the whole picture. Then there are fae that are just the opposite; fiercely loyal, honest and the helping hand that Toby needs just when it seems she could close her eyes forever. ~ Luv Ala Mode About Changelings A changeling is any individual who has both fae and human blood in a measurable percentage. "Classic" changelings are half-and-half, with one fae parent and one mortal parent. Their children are still considered changelings, regardless of whether the child's second parent was fae, mortal, or changeling. Individuals with less than one-quarter human blood are considered fae, and individuals with less than one-quarter fae blood are considered human, although they may be able to make use of some fae magic. : Changeling's Choice: Changelings are given a choice between the fae and mortal worlds by their fae parents once they have reached a certain age (this age is different for everyone, but is normally between the ages of six and thirteen). Changelings who choose "fae" are immediately taken to the Summerlands to begin their education. Changelings who choose "human" are killed. Quarter-blooded changelings may not be presented with the Choice, as it is possible that their mortal blood will be so strong that their fae nature will not manifest itself. ~ Toby's World: The Toby Daye FAQ More: *Toby's World: The Toby Daye FAQ ~ Seanan McGuire *Fairy Tale Survival FAQ ~ Seanan McGuire Protagonist ✥ October Christine Daye: October Daye—"Toby" to her friends, and to anyone who doesn't want to get hit—is very aware of the reality of Faerie and the nature of its relationship to the human world. She's a changeling: half-human, half-fae, and trying desperately to find the balance between the two. Preferably without getting herself killed in the process. ~ Toby FAQ ✥ MEET TOBY...October "Toby" Day is a former street kid and half-breed Daoine Sidhe who's practically made a career out of running away from things. She was raised in the Summerlands, last of the true fae realms, only to flee to the mortal world when she was a teenager, looking for a life she could call her own. For a while, it looked like she might even succeed. She found a place in the service of a local Duke, earned her position as a knight errant, fell in love, and thought the running was over. — She was wrong. All too soon, all she wanted was the opportunity to run away from everything and fade into obscurity. Unfortunately for Toby, life is rarely simple for changelings, and her own talent for complicating things makes it impossible for her to disappear into the shadows. It probably doesn't help that she attracts trouble the way that candles attract moths, or that she's somehow managed to catch the eye of some of the most powerful people in the Kingdom of the Mists. ~ Seanan McGuire: Rosemary and Rue ✥ Half Daoine Sidhe who has been knighted in the fae court. She had a fiancé and a daughter, but lost contact with them after being turned into a fish for fourteen years. Daughter of Amandine. Magic tastes like copper and cut grass. Born in 1952. Currently works at Safeway. ~ Rosemary and Rue ~ Shelfari ✥ In the early books, Toby has two love interests: Connor, the son and heir of the Duchy of Shadowed Hills, and Tybalt, the King of Dreaming Cats. Throughout most of the series, Connor is enmeshed in a marriage of convenience with an emotionally damaged woman who grows more and more psychotic and violent. Toby's relationship with Tybalt simmers with enigmatic glances and subtle sexual innuendo. This is how Toby views life: "In the end, there's never a sanctuary. You run until there's nowhere left to run to, and then you fight, and then you die, and then it's over. That's how the world works, and if there's a way to change that, I hope someone's eventually planning to let me know." (Late Eclipses, p. 203) Toby is forced to live her life within the restraints of her dark supernatural genetics, and is put in hopeless situations time and time again. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction Book Cover Blurbs ✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Rosemary and Rue (2009): The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. In the case of October "Toby" Gaye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas. ~ Shelfari ✾ The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer. ~ Goodreads ✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—A Local Habitation (2010): "Well researched, sharply told, highly atmospheric and as brutal as any pulp detective tale..."— Publishers Weekly — October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. Like her mother, she is gifted in blood magic, able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood. Toby is the only changeling who has earned knighthood, and she re-earns that position every day, undertaking assignments for her liege, Sylvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills. Now Sylvester has asked her to go to the County of Tamed Lightning—otherwise known as Fremont, CA—to make sure that all is well with his niece, Countess January O'Leary, whom he has not been able to contact. It seems like a simple enough assignment—but when dealing with the realm of Faerie nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Toby soon discovers that someone has begun murdering people close to January, whose domain is a buffer between Sylvester's realm and a scheming rival duchy. If Toby can't find the killer soon, she may well become the next victim. ~ Goodreads | A Local Habitation (October Daye #2) by Seanan McGuire ✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—An Artificial Night (2010): Experience the thrill of the hunt in the third October Daye urban fantasy novel. October "Toby" Daye is a changeling-half human and half fae-and the only one who has earned knighthood. Now she must take on a nightmarish new challenge. Someone is stealing the children of the fae as well as mortal children, and all signs point to Blind Michael. Toby has no choice but to track the villain down-even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm, home of the Wild Hunt-and no road may be taken more than once. If Toby cannot escape with the children, she will fall prey to the Wild Hunt and Blind Michael's inescapable power. ~ Goodreads | (#3) ✤ BOOK FOUR BLURB—Late Eclipses (2011): October "Toby" Daye, changeling knight in the service of Duke Sylvester Torquill, finds the delicate balance of her life shattered when she learns that an old friend is in dire trouble. Lily, Lady of the Tea Gardens, has been struck down by a mysterious, seemingly impossible illness, leaving her fiefdom undefended. Struggling to find a way to save Lily and her subjects, Toby must confront her own past as an enemy she thought was gone forever raises her head once more: Oleander de Merelands, one of the two people responsible for her fourteen-year exile. Time is growing short and the stakes are getting higher, for the Queen of the Mists has her own agenda. With everything on the line, Toby will have to take the ultimate risk to save herself and the people she loves most—because if she can't find the missing pieces of the puzzle in time, Toby will be forced to make the one choice she never thought she'd have to face again. ~ Goodreads | Late Eclipses (#4) ✤ BOOK FIVE BLURB—One Salt Sea (2011): "...a Perfect 10." —Romance Reviews Today October "Toby" Daye is finally doing all right—and that inevitably means it's time for things to take a turn for the worse. Someone has kidnapped the sons of the Duchess Dianda Lorden, regent of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist. To prevent a war between land and sea, Toby must not only find the missing boys, but also prove that the Queen of the Mists was not behind their abduction. She'll need all her tricks and the help of her allies if she wants to make it through this in one piece. Toby's search will take her from the streets of San Francisco to the lands beneath the waves. But someone is determined to stop her—and whoever it is isn't playing by Oberon's Laws. As the battle grows more and more personal, one thing is chillingly clear. When Faerie goes to war, not everyone will walk away. One Salt Sea is the fifth installment of the highly praised Toby Daye series. ~ Goodreads | One Salt Sea (#5) ✤ BOOK SIX BLURB—Ashes of Honor (2012): It’s been almost a year since October “Toby” Daye averted a war, gave up a county, and suffered personal losses that have left her wishing for a good day’s sleep. She’s tried to focus on her responsibilities—'training Quentin', upholding her position as Sylvester’s knight, and paying the bills—but she can’t help feeling like her world is crumbling around her, and her increasingly reckless behavior is beginning to worry even her staunchest supporters. To make matters worse, Toby’s just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it’s the changeling daughter of her fellow knight, Etienne, who didn’t even know he was a father until the girl went missing. Her name is Chelsea. She’s a teleporter, like her father. She’s also the kind of changeling the old stories warn about, the ones with all the strength and none of the control. She’s opening doors that were never meant to be opened, releasing dangers that were sealed away centuries before—and there’s a good chance she could destroy Faerie if she isn’t stopped. Now Toby must find Chelsea before time runs out, racing against an unknown deadline and through unknown worlds as she and her allies try to avert disaster. But danger is also stirring in the Court of Cats, and Tybalt may need Toby’s help with the biggest challenge he’s ever faced. Toby thought the last year was bad. She has no idea. ~ Goodreads | Ashes of Honor (#6) ✤ BOOK SEVEN BLURB—Chimes at Midnight (2013): Things are starting to look up for October "Toby" Daye. She's training her squire, doing her job, and has finally allowed herself to grow closer to the local King of Cats. It seems like her life may finally be settling down...at least until dead changelings start appearing in the alleys of San Francisco, killed by an overdose of goblin fruit. Toby's efforts to take the problem to the Queen of the Mists are met with harsh reprisals, leaving her under sentence of exile from her home and everyone she loves. Now Toby must find a way to reverse the Queens decree, get the goblin fruit off the streets—and, oh, yes, save her own life, since more than a few of her problems have once again followed her home. And then there's the question of the Queen herself, who seems increasingly unlikely to have a valid claim to the throne. To find the answers, October and her friends will have to travel from the legendary Library of Stars into the hidden depths of the Kingdom of the Mists—and they'll have to do it fast, because time is running out. In faerie, some fates are worse than death. October Daye is about to find out what they are. ~ Goodreads | Chimes at Midnight (#7) ✤ BOOK EIGHT BLURB—The Winter Long (Sept 2, 2014): Toby thought she understood her own past; she thought she knew the score. She was wrong. It's time to learn the truth. — ~ Goodreads ✤ BOOK NINE BLURB—A Red Rose Chain (Expected pub: 2015): Things are looking up. For the first time in what feels like years, October "Toby" Daye has been able to pause long enough to take a breath and look at her life—and she likes what she sees. She has friends. She has allies. She has a squire to train and a King of Cats to love, and maybe, just maybe, she can let her guard down for a change. Or not. When Queen Windermere's seneschal is elf-shot and thrown into an enchanted sleep by agents from the neighboring Kingdom of Silences, Toby finds herself in a role she never expected to play: that of a diplomat. She must travel to Portland, Oregon, to convince King Rhys of Silences not to go to war against the Mists. But nothing is that simple, and what October finds in Silences is worse than she would ever have imagined. How far will Toby go when lives are on the line, and when allies both old and new are threatened by a force she had never expected to face again? How much is October willing to give up, and how much is she willing to change? In Faerie, what's past is never really gone. It's just waiting for an opportunity to pounce. ~ Fang-tastic ~ Goodreads | A Red Rose Chain (October Daye, #9) by Seanan McGuire ✤ BOOK TEN BLURB—Once Broken Faith (2016): Politics have never been October “Toby” Daye’s strong suit. When she traveled to the Kingdom of Silences to prevent them from going to war with her home, the Kingdom of the Mists, she wasn’t expecting to return with a cure for elf-shot and a whole new set of political headaches. Now the events she unwittingly set in motion could change the balance of modern Faerie forever, and she has been ordered to appear before a historic convocation of monarchs, hosted by Queen Windermere in the Mists and overseen by the High King and Queen themselves. Naturally, things have barely gotten underway when the first dead body shows up. As the only changeling in attendance, Toby is already the target of suspicion and hostility. Now she needs to find a killer before they can strike again—and with the doors locked to keep the guilty from escaping, no one is safe. As danger draws ever closer to her allies and the people she loves best, Toby will have to race against time to prevent the total political destabilization of the West Coast and to get the convocation back on track…and if she fails, the cure for elf-shot may be buried forever, along with the victims she was too slow to save. Because there are worse fates than sleeping for a hundred years. ~ Goodreads | Once Broken Faith (October Daye, #10) by Seanan McGuire ✤ BOOK ELEVEN—''The Brightest Fell'' (9/2017): ~ Goodreads | The Brightest Fell (October Daye, #11) by Seanan McGuire ✤ BOOK TWELVE—''Night and Silence'' (9/2018): ~ Goodreads | Night and Silence (October Daye, #12) by Seanan McGuire ✤ BOOK THIRTEEN—''When Sorrows Come'' (9/2019): ~ Goodreads | When Sorrows Come (October Daye, #13) by Seanan McGuire * Titles and release dates and number of books are subject to change per the whims of publisher(s) or author. Category:Series